State of Newport-Mesa district to be addressed

Newport-Mesa Unified School District's superintendent will present a State of the School District address Wednesday night.

Supt. Fred Navarro will talk about current challenges and projects in the district, which serves Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, at a public event hosted by Speak Up Newport.

The nonprofit is a citizens group founded in 1979 and focused on promoting the common good in Newport Beach. Members provide monthly public forums such as the Mayor's Dinner and annual State of the City Address.

This is Navarro's first State of the School District speech since he was hired as Newport-Mesa's top administrator in the summer.

He plans to talk about 2012-13 priorities that school board members approved in December.

They include goals such as crafting a new approach to student discipline and creating artistic and academic flagship programs in each school zone.

"The one that I think I'll spend more time on is the academic achievement piece," Navarro said.

Newport-Mesa is trying to increase its National Merit Scholarship winners and commit to a curriculum that fulfills admissions requirements for University of California and California State University colleges.